Those who praise composer-lyricist Cole Porter as "the Stephen Sondheim of his era" usually neglect to add that it was a far different era. In 1934, Broadway audiences didn't ask a lot of their musical comedies beyond hummable tunes, belting dames, a steady stream of jokes, shapely legs and rascally, ineffectual villains.

Still, "Anything Goes" is a masterpiece in its own carefree way: an art deco time capsule that transports us to a more innocent and bubbly decade when production numbers were more important than plausibility.

Of course, what you're seeing at the Ahmanson Theatre through Jan. 6 is a cleverly modernized version: theater's equivalent of a Packard limousine with a 21st-century hybrid engine to make it run as smoothly as a Prius without losing its Old School pizzazz. Sure, the ride is still a little bumpy, and its tale of shipboard shenanigans and mismatched romance is as quaint and dated as a rumble seat. But with Rachel York's low-pitched, high-wattage sultriness front and center and Kathleen Marshall's Tony-winning choreography powering the big set pieces, this "Anything Goes" is the ultimate guilty pleasure – immense talent delivering absolute fluff, and having a great time in the process.

Truth be told, the original "Anything Goes" was a hot mess that struggled through a difficult birth. (Credits always give these donnybrooks away: "Original Book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse.")

In 1987, Timothy Crouse (Russel's son) teamed with veteran librettist John Weidman for a Lincoln Center Theater revival starring Patti LuPone, writing a new book that greatly improved things and added new Porter songs. They took a second crack at it for last year's Broadway revival, which won three Tony Awards.

The plot is a long string of contrivances.

A young stockbroker named Billy Crocker readies his boss, Elisha Whitney, for a trans-Atlantic voyage on the S.S. American. Billy's supposed to sell a stock that Whitney says is about to tumble.

But Billy, like so many comic heroes, is an idiot. He's fallen for a girl named Hope Harcourt. Accompanying his boss to the ship, he sees her on board. She's on her way to England to marry up – her fiance is Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, a stuffy aristocrat. Of course, Billy stows away, intending to derail the nuptials. That stock deal he was supposed to make? Oops – sidelined by testosterone.

York, a statuesque and talented Broadway veteran, plays Reno Sweeney, a vampish beauty who's also a revivalist preacher/singer with a shipboard act. (I warned you this plot was silly.) She's got a thing for Billy, but sees he's smitten and good-naturedly decides to help him in his quest.

That's about all you need to know. You'll see gangsters with Tommy guns, cartoonish Chinese laborers, a quartet of slutty angels, an ill-fated lap dog, a redhead who aims to bed every sailor on board, and a conniving captain who's more concerned with celebrities than actually sailing the ship. Please don't make me explain how they fit into the story.

York anchors the show, and she's often magnificent. You need a combination of period authenticity, cheekiness and élan to sing songs such as "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "Anything Goes." York owns those qualities in spades. Her sultry voice isn't perfectly controlled, but she can deliver lyrics with oceans of subtext – the way songs had to be sung back when naughtiness was implied, not stated.

Erich Bergen still has the impish boy-next-door quality that made him so appealing in "Jersey Boys." Tall and athletic, he can seem gangly or elegant depending on the situation. Like York, his voice has its weaknesses, but he sells songs expertly. (To be fair, these tunes were made for charismatic, rough-edged yodelers like Ethel Merman, who played the original Reno).

Supporting roles are well-cast.

Alex Finke's Hope Harcourt does willowy confusion nicely, though her high singing voice is a bit thin. As her battleship of a mother, Sandra Shipley personifies maternal single-mindedness. Edward Staudenmayer makes a lovable English twit as Lord Oakleigh, and he gets some of the show's biggest laughs in the Lord's alter-ego number, "The Gypsy in Me." Fred Applegate is delightfully rascally as Moonface Martin, a wannabe gangster. Joyce Chittick brings Betty Boop to mind as his curvy, man-hungry little sidekick, Erma.

Some Broadway revivals can seem airless and overly reverential. Director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall made sure that didn't happen here. Her "Anything Goes" captures the spirit of Cole Porter. Like his songs, this show feels as fresh, friendly and amiably risqué now as it must have 80 years ago.

Rachel York and the cast of Roundabout Theatre Company's “Anything Goes," now playing at the Ahmanson Theatre on its national tour. JOAN MARCUS
The Broadway cast of the Roundabout Theatre Company's “Anything Goes,” directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Kathleen Marshall. This national touring production plays at the Ahmanson Theatre through Jan. 6. JOAN MARCUS
Erich Bergen and Rachel York in "Anything Goes." Bergen retains the boy-next-door quality that made him popular in "The Jersey Boys." JOAN MARCUS
Alex Finke and Erich Bergen in the Roundabout Theatre Company's “Anything Goes." She plays Billy's love interest, Hope Harcourt. JOAN MARCUS
Alex Finke, Erich Bergen and the cast of the Roundabout Theatre Company's “Anything Goes." Director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall won a Tony Award for her choreography. JOAN MARCUS
Rachel York (center) and the cast of Roundabout Theatre Company's “Anything Goes,” directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Kathleen Marshall. This version is based on a 1987 Lincoln Center revival by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman. JOAN MARCUS
Fred Applegate, center left, Erich Bergen and the cast of Roundabout Theatre Company's national touring production of “Anything Goes." JOAN MARCUS

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